Button strip



L. L. ALMOND I BUTTON STRIP Filed Jan. 27, 1951 95%67 $740 6 2 lea-'9 wirzzeyg.

Patented Aug. 9, 1932 w i I l I orricn LESTER I. ALMOND, OF NORTH TROY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO CLUETT, PEABODY & (30., INC OF TROY, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK Y BUTTON sTnIr Application filed January 27, 1931. Serial No. 511,472.

three or even more plies of material for the in purpose of providing a more secure mounting for buttons, it being generally understood that as the number of plies is increased the tendency for buttons to pull off, as during laundering, will be decreased accordingly.

15 The present invention is directed to improvements in features of construction and in the relative arrangement of parts with the ob ect of increasing the button holding or retaining capacity of one of these strips materially be- .G yond that obtainable merely from the use of number of plies employed.

According to this invention a button, strip he formed of a plurality and preferably of see or more plies of material which are firmly to ether by means of stitches,

buttons or other fasteners being attached 1 r ugh the various plies immediately adjan the stitches holding the plies together. '-nveniently the plies may be secured together by aroW of stitching along which the buttons may be mounted. With this type of construction the strands or threads forming the intermediate ply or plies become inter-. locked with the threads of the outer plies, the

0 threads of one piy being pressed firmly into the relatively minute interstices between the threads of the next adjacent ply and held in this position by the stitches. The inner ply is te some extent at least compacted or embedded into the outer plies. Relative movement of the plies, such as weaving or shifting of the intermediate. ply for example is therefore efiectively prevented at points in close proximity to the row of stitching. As a result of this construction the thread attaching the buttons may be bound firmly about thethreads or strands of the various plies and as the latter threads are held firmly together by the row of stitching it is necessaryto break the threads of the various plies simultaneously in order to pull ofi a button. This is a marked advantage over older types of construction wherein shifting of the plies at the point of attachment of a button often permitted the strands or threads of the various plies to be broken successively. Actual tests show that with only a three ply strip a 25% greater force is required to pull old a button attached according to this invention than is required to pull a button from a three ply strip of the usual construction. In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a portion of a shirt; and v Fig. 2 is a section on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

As illustrated in the drawing, a shirt 10 has an edge thereof turned to form a hem 11 A reinforcing strip 12, has one of the longitudinal edges thereof turned to form a similar hem 13 which is disposed along the hemmed portion 11 of the shirt, these tWo hems being completed and the reinforcing strip attached to the shirt by a row of stitching 14 extending along the edge of the garment. The other longitudinal edge of the reinforcing strip is turned inwardly toward the shirt to form a relatively wide hem 16. A second row of stitching 17 completes this hem and also attaches the reinforcing strip to the shirt to form a button strip thereon. Preferably the row of stitching 17 isspaced well in from the folded edge of the hem 16 and adjacent the free raw edge of the portion of the reinforcing strip forming this hem. The relatively wide hem 16 gives strength, stability and form-retaining properties to the button strip.

At suitable points spaced along the second row of stitching fastening elements such as buttons 18 are sewed to the garment by threads passing through the three plies comprising the garment 10 and the double ply provided by the hem 16. The stitches 19 securing these buttons are disposed substantially parallel to the stitches forming the row of stitching 17 and are also located immediately adjacent or in close proximity to the stitches of this row or directly upon stitching 17. The stitches of the row 17 serve to bind the plies of the button strip firmly together and particularly the threads or strands of these plies about which the button attaching stitches 19 extend to bind the buttons onto the garment.

In this way relative shifting movement of the plies forming the button strip and particularly of the individual threads'or strands of such plies is effectively prevented, so that to pull a button from the garment it becomes necessary to break substantially simultaneously all the strands of the various plies about which such button is secured by the stitches 19. Hence, the button holding or retaining capacity of the strip is increased far beyond that obtainable solely from the use of the number of plies employed. In one instance where a force of twelve pounds would ordinarily be suflicieiit to pull a button from a garment comprising three plies of a given material, it has been found that when these plies are assembled and secured together in the manner just pointed out, the force required to pull a button must be increased to at least fifteen pounds before the button can be torn from the garment.

' This appears to be due to the gripping or binding action of the outer plies of the strip which form an interlock with the intermediate ply comprising the turned edge of the hem the relatively minute interstices between the strands of the threads of the outer plies and effectively preventing shifting movement of the intermediate ply relative to the outer plies. This avoids the possibility of breaking successively the threads about which the button attaching stitches 19 extend and thereby assures the maximum strength afforded by the three plies of the material.

While some of the advantages of this invention may be gained by forming the strip of only two plies, it is preferred to use a construction embodying three or-more plies as the latter provides a much more positive in terlock for plies and assures a firmer and more secure mounting for the fastener.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and that this invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: j

1. A button strip comprising superposed plies, a row of stitching comprising straight seam stitches securing these plies firmly together and holding strands of these plies extending through this row of stitching from relative movement longitudinally of said strands and transversely of said row of stitching, fastening elements spaced along said row of stitching, each of said fastening elements being disposed approximately symmetrically across said row of stitching and being apertured to receive retaining stitches, and an attaching thread passing through the apertured portionlof each fastening element simultaneously to pull a fastening element from the strip.

2. A bottom strip comprising outer plies and an intermediate ply, a row of stitching comprising straight seam stitches holding these plies firmly together with the strands of the inner ply compressed and interlocked between those of the outer plies, fastening elements disposed along and immediately adjacent this row of stitching and secured to the strip by retaining stitches disposed substantially parallel to the row of stitching at points within the area in which strands of adjacent plies are securel held from relative movement, the retain ng stitches and similarly spaced stitches of the row of stitching being disposed about the same strands of the plies to provide for more securely compacting and compressing these plies together in interlocking relation, thereby to prevent relative shifting of the plies and of the strands about which the retaining stitches pass so that the latter strands of'the three plies must be broken substantially simultaneously to pull a fastening element from the strip.

3. The combination with a garment having a hem along an edge thereof, of a facing strip having a similar hem along one edge thereof, a row of stitching completing these hems and attaching the facing strip to the garment, fastening elements for the garment, the other edge of the facing strip being folded over to form a hem, a second row of stitching comprising straight seam stitches com leting the latter hem and attaching the acing strip to the garment, this second row of stitching being spaced from the outer fold edge of its associated hem, each of these attaching elements being disposed approximately symmetrically across said second row of stitching, and retaining stitches passing through said fastening elements and the garment and both plies of said second hem and binding said fastening elements securely to the garment at points along said second row of stitchin and between the latter row of stitching an the fold edge of said second hem, said retaining stitches extending longitudinally of said row of stitch Signed by me at Troy, N. Y., this 15th day of January, 1931. LESTER L. 

